The school that nurtures some of Wales' finest minds
It is Wales' largest school and known for its sporting prowess, but Whitchurch High School has also found a way to honour all its outstanding graduates, as Rob Cole reports...
SIR Malcolm Pill went back to school – and back in time – last week when he joined in the unveiling of a new honours board at his old alma mater, Whitchurch High School. For many, the first image that is conjured up when someone mentions Whitchurch High School is of Gareth Bale scoring one of his many goals for Wales or Real Madrid, Geraint Thomas winning the Tour de France or Sam Warburton leading Wales or the British and Irish Lions to glory.
The biggest school in Wales, with 2,400 pupils across two sites, it quite rightly deems itself to be a school of champions. It is indeed that, but in so many more spheres than just sport. That’s why headteacher Mark Powell was delighted when a team of teachers, old and new, got together to compile a definitive list of alumni covering all walks of life. The great sportsmen and women produced by the school – which began life as a grammar school in 1937 before amalgamating with Whitchurch Secondary School in 1968 to create the high school – have their place on the 113-strong “roll of honour”, but they have some serious rivals for top billing.
In fact, top billing goes to the Morgan brothers, Rhodri and Prys. Rhodri, of course, went on to become the First Minister of Wales, while his elder brother Prys became a history professor at Swansea University. Quite a family double act, but so too are the Pills. Sir Malcolm, who was at Whitchurch between 1949 and 1956, is joined among the great alumni by his son Huw. While his father went into the law, becoming a High Court Judge and for eight years the Lord Justice of Appeal in England and Wales, Pill junior became an economist.
“He’s got quite a bit on his plate at the moment,” commented Sir Malcolm on the workload currently being undertaken by Huw, who has been the chief economist and executive director for monetary analysis at the Bank of England since 2021. Previously the chief European economist at Goldman Sachs and a senior lecturer at the Harvard Business School, he left Whitchurch and headed to Oxford University. His father had gone to Cambridge.
“Being included among a fantastic array of talent from the school is a real honour. It was nice coming back to see the board and there are a number of names I recognised both on the roll of honour and on the list of ‘lead students’,” said Sir Malcolm. “I can still picture myself standing on the steps in the foyer of the main school while they unveiled the War Memorial for those ex-pupils who had lost their lives in World War II. I was involved in the guard of honour on that occasion and, 74 years later, I’ve come back for a different kind of ceremony. I’ve carried the first ceremony with me throughout my life and now I shall recall this one with great affection.
“There is such a wide range of talents among those on the list and it just shows what a rounded education the school provides.” Current headteacher Mark Powell was an enthusiastic backer of the project to amplify and expand on the school’s rich history and proudly stood alongside vice-chair of governors Joyce Slack at the official unveiling.
But he only had half an eye on the list of alumni and was quick to point to the names further down the corridor, highlighting current pupils who have already excelled in school. “We’ve already had lots of people looking at the honours boards at open days and a number of students have shown an interest. The whole point is to let them see for themselves what they can go on to achieve,” said Powell.
“It is a rich and diverse list and shows the traditional strength of the school in the arts and drama especially. “We always delight in hearing about the great sporting exploits of our former pupils, but that can occasionally bring criticism that all we do here is focus on sporting excellence. “We do not! When you look down this first list of former alumni, you see musicians, actors, politicians, a host of university professors, archeologists, authors, leading figures in the law and, of course, our economist. We’ve produced winners of Baftas and an Olivier awards, as well as a winner of Mastermind.
“But the beauty of what we have created in the corridor is that running alongside the roll of honour and lead students are boards that highlight those students who have earned 10 GCSEs at A and A* and who have three A-levels at A and A*. “That changes every year, and we expect many of those students to be pushing for inclusion on the roll of honour in the future.” The project to uncover the inspirational alumni was led by former teachers Gareth Daniel and Barry Slack. Sporting input came from estates manager Steve Williams, who is still coaching the 1st XV at the age of 75.
The earliest lead student uncovered – or head boy or girl in old parlance – was Emlyn Cooke from 1949-50. He was also captain of the 1st XV, won a Welsh Secondary Schools cap and went on to play for Cardiff. His Welsh shirt hangs proudly in the sports hall after he walked into the school unannounced 60 years after leaving and presented it to Williams.
The former Labour MP Hywel Francis was the rugby captain in 1964-65, while other head boys include ITV Wales journalist Jonathan Hill, Commonwealth Games badminton player Lyndon Williams and Sir Malcolm Pill. Among the roll of head girls is Dr Susan Trussler, who became professor of economics and finance at the University of Scranton in the USA, and president of women at the Academy of International Business. She was lead student in 1968-69.
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